It's Just So
by Majick
Summary: Ron and Hermione argue. Harry and Ginny snog. The Room of Requirement is put to good use and Snape and Filch are on the prowl. Yep, it's another Harry Potter fluff fic. :: Complete! Please read and review!
1. Ron's Tale

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Just So...

Ron's tale

Well, I suppose it was only a matter of time before Ginny wore Harry down. I'm only surprised that it took five years, looking back over it all. She's normally pretty persistent.

People were pretty surprised that I didn't thump Harry for snogging my little sister. In fairness to them, I did. Not hard, and not anywhere it'd show, or else I'd have Hermione hassling me for forever and a day.

Harry understood, though. When he could speak again, he said that he'd have done the same in my position. Everything was fine. Ginny and Harry were happy, the three of us became the four of us, and for a few days everything was good. It was nice to have Ginny hanging out with us, though don't tell her I said that, or I'll never hear the end of it. 

By the end of the week, Harry and Ginny were looking a bit, well, I don't know, uncomfortable. I tried to find out what was going on, but they said that there was nothing wrong. Then Hermione distracted me. She'd been trying to get her own back on me since that spell on the Chocolate Frog cards turned out to be pretty useful in the end. Not quite how I imagined things turning out, but that's okay.

'Ron,' she said. 'Since you want to play Quidditch when you leave here, can you answer me something?'

'I can try,' I said, with a grin at Harry. He smiled back, but he looked a bit off colour. I was actually a bit worried, you know? I thought he might be coming down with something, and if he was, then there was a good chance that Ginny'd probably catch it too.

And if you can't imagine how Ginny could catch whatever illness Harry had, well, I'm _not_ going to paint you a picture.

'How exactly do you get picked by a professional team to play for them?' she asked.

Imagine that. Hermione stumped me on a question about Quidditch. Look, don't tell her I said this, okay, but I hadn't really given a lot of thought to life after Hogwarts. I know I should, but it's too much like work.

'You know, I don't know the details,' I admitted. 'I can always owl Oliver Wood and ask him.

'Oh, no, it's okay,' Hermione said. 'I can tell you. I saw it in a magazine somewhere. I think it was one of Seamus' copies of _Which Broomstick?_'

'How did you end up reading one of Seamus' Quidditch magazines?' I asked. 'Isn't that a bit too much fun for you?'

'It just so happens that I like Quidditch a lot, Ron. Just because you think you know everything about it, doesn't mean you do.'

'Okay, I don't know everything. I never said I did. I just never imagined you putting your feet up with a glass of pumpkin juice and _Which Broomstick?_ is all.'

'It was pineapple juice, actually, and I felt I deserved a break from study a few nights ago, so I asked Seamus if he had a copy I could read. He was happy to lend me one.'

I just bet he was. I've seen the way Seamus has been looking at Hermione since we got back to school last week. I'm amazed his eyes haven't popped out of his head.

'Well, that was good of him. Anyway, could you tell me how I'd go about trying out for a professional team? Please?'

You see that I added the 'please' there? I've learned it's a good idea to be polite to Hermione when I want something from her. She's a lot more likely to tell me what I want if I'm polite. Either that or she assumes I'm up to something 'cos I'm being nice. Sometimes I think she goes around looking for trouble, at least with me. She never does it to Harry. Then again, he's always polite to her. I'm not sure it's worth the effort.

Besides, it's fun arguing with her.

'I'll tell you if you'll bet me on something?'

'If I what?'

'Bet me. If you win, I'll tell you how to get a tryout with a professional Quidditch team. If you lose you'll have to. . .' She looked around, and started smiling when she saw the rubbish bin in the corner of the room. Just as I was about to ask her why rubbish made her so happy, she said 'You have to help me with S.P.E.W. next time I go to the kitchens.'

This is the sort of thing I mean when I say Hermione's barking mad. No one ever listens to me, but she is. She's flaming crazy. I reckon she'd be well suited to dragon taming. She's got the right mentality, just like Charlie. He's another one whose mind works in weird ways.

'What's the bet?'

It pays to be cautious around mad people. I never know when Hermione's going to start crying, or hugging me, or what.

'I don't know,' she said 'How about we bet on whether it's Seamus or Dean who speak next?'

She pointed over to where the two of them were working on their Divination stuff. Seamus is an unlucky man. Imagine Lavender dumping him a week after he picks Divination as one of is O.W.L's. And he convinced Dean to do it, too. Trelawney and Firenze must do some weird classes, because Dean isn't at all happy right now.

'I'll pick Seamus,' Hermione said.

'That'll make him happy,' I said without thinking. Hermione nearly knocked over her bottle of ink.

'What was that?' she asked.

'Er. . . Nothing,' I said. 'Okay, Dean to speak first. Come on Dean. My future happiness rests on you opening that gobby mouth of yours.'

We were sat watching for about two minutes until Seamus said something. Dean completely ignored him. I watched for another few seconds, and Seamus tried again. Dean still ignored him again. I turned to Hermione.

'Dean's not talking to Seamus, is he?' I asked. Beside her, I could see Harry shaking his head.

'You could have told me,' I said to him. 'That wasn't fair, Hermione,' I said. 'How was I supposed to know they're not talking?'

'Ask them?' Ginny suggested. ''Dean's not been talking to Seamus since Tuesday. You must have noticed.'

Ginny seemed thoroughly amused by all of this. Remind me to have a big brother/little sister chat with her sometime in the next couple of days.

'Okay, Ron, I cheated a bit,' Hermione said. 'But it's in a good cause. I really feel I'm getting somewhere with the elves down in the kitchens. If you help me out tonight, then there might be a few more prepared to stand up for their rights.'

'Hermione, house elves have rights. A lot more now then they did only a few years ago,' I protested. Believe it or not, I'd actually done a bit of research on this, for just this sort of occasion. Hermione, of course, cut me off at the knees.

'Yes, Ron, I know all about the Elf Rights Charter of 1977. It's very nice, but it's still not equal footing with humans. Oh, go on Ron. You might even enjoy it. I'll even find you the magazine afterwards.'

It's not fair. Hermione has this sort of wounded puppy look when she thinks I'm being unfair. I swear she got Ginny to teach it to her. She never used to do that. Women!

'How long is this waste of time going to take?' I sighed. Better to give up now and save my strength for another day, and a fight I might have a chance of winning.

'Ron, that's hardly the attitude I was hoping for,' she huffed.

'Well, it's the attitude you're getting,' I said. 'You could always ask Seamus to help you.'

'Why on _earth_ would I ask Seamus to help with S.P.E.W?' she said. That cheered me up a bit. 'Anyway, I thought you would sympathise with what house elves have to go through.'

'What do you mean?'

'Well, your mum does a lot of work for all of you, and that's a pretty thankless task, just like the house elves.'

'Well, yeah, but. . .'

'So you could almost see it as doing something to support your mum. I'm sure she'd be very happy to hear that you were helping others. And your dad agrees with me about the elves, so-'

The thing about Hermione is, when she starts going on like this, I tend to glaze over a bit. I mean, some of it registers, but most of it is pretty much in one ear and out the other, you know? Anyway, to cut a long story short, I agreed to go with her to the kitchens.

'Oh Ron, that's wonderful,' she said. 'You won't regret this, and you'll feel good about helping out, I know you will. And when we get back, I'll help you find that article, okay?'

Yeah, well, I guess I could have put up a fight about it, but I don't care. Thing is, well, it was kind of nice to do something that makes Hermione smile for a change, you know? I mean, I know I tease her about S.P.E.W. and everything, but she's got her heart in the right place, as my mum would say. And that's not all that she's got in the right place, as Fred, George, Bill and Charlie would say.

There. I said it. I like Hermione, and I have for ages. I think I started to realise it back during the second year, when she was Petrified. It was really weird at first, but you kind of get used to it, y'know? I sort of thought that we could just go through Hogwarts and see what happened. I never thought I'd start getting jealous about her and other boys. Which I did, of course. And it's been made perfectly clear that I was acting like a prat. It's amazing some of the words Ginny knows, really. I think she's spending too much time with me.

Sorry. I got off topic there, didn't I? I'm hopeless about talking about this stuff, I really am. It just still feels kind of weird to feel this way about Hermione. I know it's why I end up arguing with her all the time. I just want us to spend time together, but we've got nothing in common and we always end up arguing. I know I get on her nerves, and we both get on Harry's nerves –poor bloke, 'though I guess Ginny's helping him deal with it- but just occasionally something makes me think that I'm right, you know? One of us will say something, or do something, and we'll look at each other, and it feels right.

If Fred heard me saying something like this he'd probably make me eat Canary Creams until I start talking about Hermione's, er, you know. . . I mean, I do look at that stuff, but with Hermione it's different. She's my best friend, and there's got to be more to going out with someone than just what they look like. 

So I agreed to go with Hermione to the kitchen to do the poxy S.P.E.W. thing, but first she insisted we do our stupid homework –Potions essays, urrgh- and by the time we were done, it was nearly ten o'clock.

'Hermione, we can't go now,' I said. I still wanted to feel like I was putting up a fight. I might as well have tried to calm down a rampaging Hippogriff.

'Of course we can, Ron,' she said. 'We're Prefects, we're allowed to be out of our common room after nine o'clock.'

Once a year or so, Hermione encourages us to break a rule. One rule, once a year. And that's it. Here she was using it up less than a fortnight into term.

Given the sort of stuff we've done over the last few years, I'd actually be quite pleased if this meant it'd be a quiet year from hereon in.

Anyway, we said goodbye to Harry and Ginny, and with half the common room making stupid comments and jokes abut what we were up to, we set off for the kitchens. Sometimes I think it'd be nice to get Hermione alone, get the mood right, and just have that talk with her. Small hope of that, I s'pose.

Just once, I thought, it might be nice if the rumours about me and Hermione were true, and that we didn't end up doing something like the S.P.E.W. meeting. I won't even try and describe it, except to say that it was pretty much as bad as the last time I got dragged down there by Hermione. She's bonkers, she really is. She actually seems to think that the elves are listening, that they're 'secretly yearning to throw off the shackles of their enslavement.' Well, if they are, they're doing a ruddy good job of hiding it, that's all I'll say on the matter.

Me and Hermione were bickering all the way back to Gryffindor Tower. We were walking along the seventh floor corridor when we heard someone coming towards us. It couldn't have been much worse, really. It was Filch, and ever since Fred and George left that swamp lying around, he's been mad to get something on Ginny or me.

We looked at each other and bolted. No way on earth did we want to run into that evil twit right then. Prefects or not, we'd have lost more points then anyone in the history of Hogwarts. Hermione could've made it into her favourite book.

We went back along the corridor, and realised that someone was coming along it. It was almost as bad as Filch. It was Snape. I mean, honestly, how bad can one evening get?

We doubled back, and went to take a different fork, and that's when we realised just how bad things were. There was someone coming down that corridor too. I didn't even need to hear their voices. Unless someone else has an Invisibility Cloak, then Harry was prowling the school too, and the way it was showing bits of the people underneath, well, it didn't take a genius to work out that Ginny was with him. I swore, a bit loudly I s'pose. There was absolute silence as Snape, Filch, Ginny, Harry and Hermione all froze. 

I looked around in horror. Hermione had gone white with fear, and I probably didn't look any different. But we're Gryffindors, and through the panic I noticed a door in the wall that I hadn't seen before. I didn't think far enough ahead to worry about what it was, I just grabbed Hermione's hand and dragged her over to it, opening it and slamming it shut behind us as we dashed in.

'Ron. . .' Hermione said, as I rested my head against the door. I was thinking of ways to bar it shut, and hadn't paid much attention to the room itself. I looked around.

'Bloody hell,' I gasped. I was at home. It was the kitchen at home. What in the name of Merlin were we doing here?

I looked closer. It was exactly as I remembered it, which I suppose should have been a clue straight off, but it's a bit weird walking out of school and straight into my house. The birds were singing, the sun was shining –another clue, I later realised- and there was a smell of baking coming from the oven.

'Ron, do you know where we are?' Hermione asked.

'Of course, I do,' I said. 'We're at home, at my house.'

She looked at me the way she does when I suggest playing Gobstones instead of writing up our Herbology practicals.

'Ron,' she said patiently. 'We're in the Room of Requirements again.'

Yeah, okay, Hermione's smart, I'm not. Blah blah blah. It's nothing I've not heard before, and to tell you the truth, it's nothing I've not said to myself. It's just so annoying that she always gets these things before me. On top of all the stress of everything else, I think I may have snapped a bit at her.

'No kidding?' I said. 'Wow, Hermione, how on earth did you work that out? I thought for a moment that I'd actually come home and that it was the middle of the day again. Why are you always so flaming _patronising?_'

Okay, maybe more than just a bit.

'Maybe if you weren't so idiotic all the time, I wouldn't have to be? How am I supposed to tell when you're joking and when you're being serious? You never take anything seriously!'

'Then just assume that I'm never serious!' I yelled. 'Why is that so hard to work out? Not everyone goes around with a rod stuck up their bum like you do.'

'Just because I think before I speak-'

'Just because you're boring and a pain in the-'

Mum'd kill me if she ever heard what I said right then. Suffice to say that was just the start of another in the long line of Granger/Weasley arguments. Not something I really want to talk about, to be honest. . .

To be continued. . .


	2. Ginny's Tale

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Ginny's tale

I'm going out with Harry Potter.

I'm _going out_ with Harry Potter.

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I'm going out with Harry Potter.

I'm going out with _Harry Potter_.

For a week now, I've been walking around in a daze, not quite able to believe it. It's unbelievable, it really is. I can't believe it. Did I say that already? It's true though. I can't believe it. None of my friends could, either.

*

'Oh, you're so lucky,' Megan squealed.

'Forget Ginny, Harry's the lucky one,' Tanya said.

'You have to tell us everything, and you have to do it right now,' Sam said, pulling some Butterbeer from her hidden stash. It was fun to be centre of attention for all the right reasons for a change.

I told them all about how we'd become good friends over the summer, how we'd been roped into helping Ron with a demonstration, how the spell had, apparently, backfired at first, and how I'd ended up making a fool of myself yet again.

But this time Harry didn't try and save my blushes by ignoring me. He came after me. He made me feel better. And, oh, he kissed me. . .

The girls squealed, and I was besieged by inquiries. How good a kisser was he? (Very.) Did he use his tongue? (A little.) Did he try anything on? (He was a perfect gentleman.) Would I have _let_ him try anything on? (Sam, the filthy minded girl. But yes, probably…)

*

In the end, though, it all came back to one simple thing.

He kissed me. _He_ kissed me. He _kissed_ me. He kissed _me_.

Sorry. I'm really not normally this giddy. Really. It's just that I've heard about Harry Potter since I was a child, a baby really. I grew up hearing all about him, and then I met him, and this hero-worship every wizard child has came crashing down around my ears.

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That's Harry Potter? That messy-haired, scrawny, short, polite, incredibly brave, impossibly handsome boy was Harry Potter? Wow.

I'll just gloss over the next few years. Embarrassing in retrospect, even worse at the time. Last year, with its false starts in the relationship department –me with Michael, Harry with Cho- with all the misery heaped upon us, and Harry in particular, by Sirius' death, well, it's the year that I actually stood side by side with Harry when he fought the Death Eaters. Okay, so I broke my ankle like some stupid princess who needs rescuing, but apart from that I think I did okay. And come the summer, Harry and me were talking like we'd been friends forever.

And then he kissed me. And I'm going out with Harry Potter. It's just so _unbelievable_. Part of me still won't accept it. I have to keep repeating it to myself in case it all vanishes.

He's got a lot of what Tanya calls baggage. But I don't care. I'm there for him, whenever he needs a shoulder to cry on, a strong arm to lean on, a bum to squ-

Sorry, sorry. I was channelling Fred and George there for a second. Of course, Fred is kind of responsible for me and Harry getting together, partly at least, so maybe it's not a bad thing.

Whatever. The second part of the story started a week after Harry and I started going out. It had been a good week. Harry and I sat together at meals, he held my hand, and he laughed a lot, which made me feel good. After all those years of watching him, I knew the sort of things that made Harry laugh, and I was good at getting a chuckle out of him. 

The one thing we hadn't done was kiss again.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not some sort of lust crazed scarlet woman, but I wanted to kiss Harry. And he wanted to kiss me, too. So we tried to get some time alone, but Ron seemed to be everywhere. It was incredible. After a frosty spell the morning that he found out, he was right in favour of Harry and me. He even reckoned he would have set us up this year, and that he thought we'd be good for each other. He made sure that I was included in everything that the three of them did.

Which meant, of course, that Harry and I were included in everything Hermione and him did.

That was nice, don't get me wrong. After so long on the outside, it was great to be included. And I knew that Harry appreciated Ron's efforts. It's just that Ron didn't allow us a moment alone. He wasn't even bad about it. He never said anything about us being together. He just seemed to think that we found time to go off and do coupley things together on our own time. At least, that's what Hermione said, and she knows Ron better than anyone.

Which is why we asked her to help us. Hermione's a romantic at heart, the same as me, and she knew we needed time on our own, and also knew we weren't getting any We didn't want to offend Ron, so Hermione promised to come up with something.

Genius that she is, she came up with the idea of dragging Ron off to a S.P.E.W. meeting. It was fun watching them bickering away about it, but eventually they went off. I don't think Ron minded too much. He likes Hermione more than he'd ever admit, and he likes spending time with her, too.

Anyway, we had to wait for the common room to clear out before we could do anything. Finally, Harry slipped off to get his Invisibility Cloak. I can understand why he doesn't want everyone knowing about it. There's only a handful of people who know he has one, and even fewer who have ever had the chance to use it. It was a real thrill to see it for the first time, and just so cool to see ourselves disappear as he swept it over us.

It wasn't exactly cool under the cloak, though. Quite the opposite, really. I'm not going to draw you a picture, though. Let's just say that all those early morning workouts for Quidditch have really had an affect on Harry, okay?

Anyway, we made our way out of the portrait hole –the Fat Lady seems to be used to invisible people. She certainly didn't say anything- and up the stairs. I had a fairly good idea about where we were going, even if Harry hadn't told me exactly.

The Room of Requirements has become a favourite place for rumoured meetings ever since Dumbledore's Army started meeting there last year. It's all rumour, of course. There's only three people who actually know how to get in there: Harry, Ron and Hermione. Harry says that even Dumbledore doesn't know, but I'd be very surprised if that's true. Anyway, until Ron and Hermione get together –it's going to happen. Everyone knows it, even if Ron would hex someone into oblivion for suggesting it- then Harry and I have it all to ourselves.

The Invisibility Cloak is just amazing, but Harry and I now are a bit bigger than Ron and Harry in their first year. It didn't always cover every bit of us, and so we tried to stick to the shadows as much as possible. Even so, when we were walking along the seventh floor towards the Room, someone did see us, and before we could react, they were running away from us. When they passed through a pool of light from a torch, I knew at once that it was Ron and Hermione. Even worse, they dashed into the Room of Requirement and slammed the door.

Worse yet, the door promptly vanished. Apparently what Ron and Hermione needed most of all was a hiding place. The next two people we saw confirmed that by their very presence.

Snape and Filch. They're just horrible, and they actually seem to like one another. I know Snape must have his good points –and he probably stopped Crabbe from choking Neville to death last year- but when he's just plain old Professor Snape, he's just plain old evil. And Filch is every bit as bad. Seeing the two of them together makes me shiver. Harry slipped his arm around me to hold me still under the Cloak. Filch had Mrs Norris with him, and Harry whispered very quietly that he didn't think the Cloak worked on her. We froze.

Snape passed about a foot from us. I held my breath, willing myself to be as still as I could. Every faint movement of the cloak felt like it was going to give us away. I barely registered that Harry had his arms around me and was holding me tight against him. I was so nervous I almost think Harry could have stripped down to his boxers and I wouldn't have noticed.

Actually, I probably would have done. That'd almost certainly get my attention, thinking about it. . .

Oh, sorry, I got a bit away from the story there, didn't I? Terrible of me. Um, yeah. Snape and Filch went their separate ways at the end of the corridor, and I breathed again. Just in time to realise Harry was still holding me close. Just because we're a couple now doesn't mean I don't still blush. Of course I do, and I was grateful it was so dark right then. Harry slowly released me, but under the cloak there wasn't much room to move away. Besides, it was nice to lean against him. He leant forward slightly and rested his chin on my shoulder.

'It's not our night, is it?' he said. I could tell he was grinning. I wanted to just grab him and kiss him right there, but I was pretty sure it'd give us away.

We made our way to the kitchen to get a drink, which was fun because we met all of the house elves. Then we went slowly back to Gryffindor Tower. The Fat Lady let us in without even opening her eyes, and we found ourselves back in the common room.

Alone.

In the empty common room.

We kept the Invisibility Cloak on. At first, anyway.

To be continued. . .


	3. Harry's Tale

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Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far. I haven't mentioned by name, because there's so many, but I really am so very grateful.

Harry's tale

It seems that everyone I love is destined to die before their time. My parents died before I had the chance to know them properly, but the dull ache I feel whenever I think about them tells me all I need to know about how I feel –or felt- about them. I thought that I'd never have to feel that again.

Then there was Sirius.

For someone who was only in my life for two years, he was more important to me than almost anyone or anything. He was the father I never knew, the brother I never had the chance to have, the uncle who told incredible stories that I was never quite sure were true. It seems mad to say it, but I loved him. I never got the chance to tell him, because he was taken from me, just like my parents.

When I came to the Burrow this year, I was in a mess. The Dursleys had been their usual charming selves all summer –why bother mentioning Sirius to them? They'd probably be happy about him being gone- and I was ready to lash out.

I came to breakfast one morning and found the perfect target. Fred and George were teasing Ginny, and I stepped in on her side. She didn't need it, of course. She can handle herself; I saw that last year. But I thought they might have been teasing her about me, so I thought I'd come in on her side, and then I'd have a go at the twins later on.

Instead I spent the day unburdening myself to Ginny, a girl I'd barely noticed until a few weeks ago when she started solving my problems for me one by one. With her by my side it was just a few hours work to lay aside the guilt I've been carrying around about all the bad things that happen to people because of Voldemort. Cedric's death, Sirius's death, the terror that good people feel. . . It's not my fault, it's Voldemort's. Ginny got through to me in a way no one, not even Dumbledore or Hermione or. . . or Sirius, has ever been able to before. It's just so strange that here was this girl, who I'd barely spoken to, and yet she knew what to say. I suppose we have a lot more in common then I'd ever thought before. We'd both had run ins with Voldemort, after all, and in many ways that was the least of our common interests.

We spent a lot of the summer together and then, by a series of improbable events, we started going out. This girl, who had suddenly and over so many years come to mean so much to me, now meant even more.

What do I feel for her? I don't know. I don't know if I _can_ love her, but she makes me feel happy, makes me feel good about myself, and if I can do as much for her as she does for me then I'll keep on _being_ happy.

And she's good to kiss, too. I know that doesn't really flow with all the emotional stuff –the touchy-feely garbage, as Fred and George would say- but its true. In my not exactly vast experience, Ginny's the best kisser I know. So it's been a bit frustrating to be stuck alongside Ron and Hermione all the last week and not have a chance to get to know my girlfriend that little bit better.

Of course, Hermione and Ron are my best friends. Nothing will ever change that. They're everything to me, probably the only people in the world who I know I could trust no matter what happens.

But there are times when they're just not the people I want to see. I'm a bit backwards about some things –look how long it took me to talk to them about Cho, for heaven's sake- and I couldn't imagine sitting Ron and Hermione down and telling them I wanted a bit of time alone so I could kiss my girlfriend. I couldn't really see it going down to well with Ron, especially after the 'friendly warning' he gave me. I said I understood, and I suppose I do, but there should be some rules about where you can hit someone when they're not ready for it.

Not that anyone is really ready to be hit, well, below the waist. It's a good job Ron knocked the wind out of me, otherwise there's a few hexes I've been reading up on for the DA that I might have tested on him.

Still, Ginny sorted everything out. She cornered Hermione, who it turned out was quite happy to help us out, and the two hatched a plan to get Ron out of the way for a bit. Wonderful news. I came up with the idea of taking Ginny to the Room of Requirement. I knew I was the only person who would be in the area that night who would know how to get in.

By the time Hermione had tricked Ron into losing their bet and bundled him off to S.P.E.W, it was getting late. Dean and Seamus were the last ones to go to bed –they seemed to have finally buried the hatchet- and after about ten minutes I followed them up.

'What in blazes are you doing, Harry?' Seamus groaned as I hunted through my trunk.

'Isn't it obvious?' Dean replied. 'Ginny's still down there, Ron and Hermione have slipped off somewhere, the boy's going to have himself a little fun.'

A pair of pillows 'mysteriously' flew across the room and clobbered Dean, but Seamus picked up the thread.

'Harry, if you want any tips,' he leered. 'Eighteen months with Lavender taught me a fair few things. Now, a good place to start is the neck-'

I really, really will make it up to Neville for banishing him across the room and into Seamus. I was _trying_ to get his pillows, but my aim must have been a bit off in the dark.

'Sweet dreams, gentlemen,' I said as I left the dormitory. 'Sweet, lonely, single dreams.'

Ginny was waiting back in the common room. The gasp of delight she gave as she watched herself disappear was worth any trouble I got into, I decided.

Anyway, it took a few minutes to get used to walking under the Cloak. We're a bit bigger now than we were five years ago, and the Cloak is really only meant for one person at a time. Still, it gave us an excuse to be pressed right up against one another.

When we ran into Snape and Filch, though, romance was the last thing on my mind. Ron and Hermione disappeared into the Room of Requirement –remind me to thank them properly for that- and I just held onto Ginny, trying to make us as small as possible. Afterwards I realised that things had got pretty, uh, pressed together under the Cloak. This was one thing I was definitely going to keep to myself. I didn't need Ron killing me, even if I would have died an innocent victim.

With Snape and Filch between us and Gryffindor Tower, we decided to visit the kitchens. Ginny had never been down there –so much for her taking after Fred and George- and I thought we'd be able to get a drink of water or something to calm our nerves. As it was, even with the Invisibility Cloak on, as soon as we clambered through the portrait hole, the house elves seemed to know we were there.

'Who is being there?' one of them squeaked. 'We is not wanting anymore trouble tonight.'

The voice was quickly hushed. What little I know about the house elves makes me think that the speaker had come about as close to challenging their master as was possible.

'It's okay,' I said, taking the Cloak off of us. 'I'm Harry Potter. I don't want to cause any trouble. I just wanted to get some water for me and my friend.'

'Harry Potter sir!' I'd braced myself this time. I do like Dobby, but his out-of-nowhere hugs are pretty hard on my ribs.

'Hi Dobby,' I wheezed. 'How have you been?'

'Very good, Harry Potter,' Dobby chirped. 'Dobby has new socks, new shirts, a whole new wardrobe Dobby is buying with his pay.'

There was a murmur from among the house elves. Clearly they didn't want to hear about Dobby's repayment for his work.

'Come, sit, Harry Potter and Harry Potter's friend,' Dobby said, showing us to a table. 'What can Dobby bring Harry and Harry's friend, sir?'

I looked at Ginny, who shrugged. She was smiling with delight at the way Dobby was acting around me, and I had a feeling she was seeing a little of her self in the elf.

'Just two glasses of water, please Dobby,' I said. 'Our throats are a little dry.'

'Harry's wish is Dobby's command, sir,' Dobby said, streaking off to the stack of crockery in one corner of the room, then off to the water pump in another corner, and then back to us. Ginny accepted her glass graciously, thanking Dobby in a sincere way that made Dobby's ears colour slightly. I think Dobby was blushing, and I sympathised. Ginny had that effect on me at times as well.

'Where's Winky, Dobby?' I asked. Dobby's face fell.

'Winky is in a bad way, sir,' Dobby said. 'Nearly two years Winky has been here and still she is not adapting to life at wonderful Hogwarts.'

Ginny looked concerned, thinking back to the attack on the Quidditch World Cup that we'd been caught up in. She asked to see Winky, and while I sipped my water, Dobby led her over to a small pile of rags that I realised was the broken down Winky.

'Winky?' Ginny said gently. 'Winky, do you hear me?'

Winky didn't move, so Ginny poured her glass of water over the slumbering house elf. I was just about to say something when Winky sat up, spluttering.

'Winky, you have to stop this,' Ginny said in a gentle voice. 'Do you think Mr Crouch would want you to act like this? Mr Crouch was one of Professor Dumbledore's great friends and he wouldn't want you acting like this, would he?'

Winky sat shivering in her ripped clothes. A Butterbeer bottle dropped from her hand and tinkled away over the flagstones.

'This isn't what Mr Crouch would have wanted, Winky,' Ginny went on. 'He wouldn't want you sitting around like this. Work, work, work, that was Mr Crouch's way. He didn't let emotional problems get in the way of work. He used work to help himself heal inside. He knew that you couldn't sit around and mourn when people were gone. You kept on working, making the world a better place for the living. Do you understand me, Winky?'

Winky shivered, but somewhere in there was a nod.

'Now, you can start to help out around here, and Dobby will help you when it hurts you inside. I know you miss Mr Crouch, he was a wonderful wizard who helped a lot of people, but you remember him best by carrying on as he would have done, okay?'

Winky sniffed, then squeaked 'Master is giving Winky clothes.'

'Mr Crouch was under a lot of stress, Winky,' Ginny said. 'You Know Who is back, and Mr Crouch panicked. He wouldn't have wanted you to act like this. He'd have wanted you to make yourself useful, wouldn't he?'

Winky sniffed, and nodded again.

'Dobby, can you help Winky get cleaned up? I think she'll be ready to work in a little while.'

'Yes miss, thank you miss, on behalf of all of Winky's friends, miss,' Dobby said. He took Winky's hand and helped her to the water pump where he started spraying water over her.

'We should go,' I said, taking Ginny's hand. 'That was incredible.'

Ginny looked troubled. 'I hope I did the right thing. It seems cruel, but Dad always says that house elves are happiest when they're working. If she can keep herself busy, Dobby and the others can help her get over Mr Crouch, right?'

I nodded. 'You and Ron and Hermione helped me cope with, well, everything,' I said. 'Dobby has a good heart. He'll make sure Winky is okay. I'll come down here in a few days and make sure everything is okay, just to be sure.'

We made our way back up to the Tower, fortunately avoiding anyone else. Wonder of wonders, we found ourselves all alone in the common room. All the trouble we'd gone to, and we could have just stayed where we were.

Still, I think we deserved a little time alone after all that.

Not that we were entirely alone. After about fifteen minutes the portrait hole swung open and Ron and Hermione came through. I don't think Ginny noticed them, and I'm pretty sure they didn't see us, or Ron would have come over. They just slipped up to their dormitories and we were alone again.

Everything was just perfect.

To be concluded. . .


	4. Hermione's Tale

__

Hermione's tale

Ron Weasley is quite the most annoying creature put on the face of this Earth. It's an inborn trait, I'm sure. Fred and George could be annoying at times, I can imagine that Percy was annoying to anyone who didn't want to stick to the rules, and Bill, Charlie and Ginny probably all have their moments.

Ron, however, is the absolute ruler, the unquestioned champion, the complete and undeniable first placed, most annoying being ever to grace the planet Earth.

Of course, most of the time he doesn't realise it. And sometimes he does something incredibly sweet that throws me completely. Like when he took over Buckbeak's appeal in the third year, or when he came over to Ginny after he had 'that talk' with Harry and gave her a big hug. He really does care for her.

Which is why I thought that Ginny and Harry should just tell him they wanted some time alone by themselves. I knew Ron wasn't being all over them on purpose, he was just trying to show he didn't have a problem with their dating. It was sweet. But annoying at the same time.

So in the end I gave in, and said I'd find a way to help them. I came up with the idea of dragging him to a S.P.E.W. meeting – and I was sure it would be dragging, with an option on kicking and screaming thrown in for good measure- because I thought it would be rather fun to see him there. I also thought I might have a chance of convincing him to help with S.P.E.W.

No chance, of course. As soon as we were out of the common room he was moaning, and he didn't stop until we were in the kitchen. He only shut up then because Dobby and the other house elves spent the whole time feeding him and fetching him things. Hardly any of them listened to my latest argument for them demanding payment and fair treatment, they were far more interested in serving their great 'master', as they insist on calling him.

By the time we left, I was so angry I could barely speak. Ron protested that he _had _been listening to me, but that it was pretty obvious that the elves weren't 'secretly yearning to throw off the shackles of their enslavement.' I settled for silently fuming. Ron had thrown part of my argument back at me. I _hate_ it when he does that. How can he sit there, daydreaming, or eating doughnuts or whatever, and then turn around and repeat what someone said?

By the time we got up to the seventh floor –thanks to a deliberately tricky staircase, honestly, the entire school seemed out to put me in a bad mood- I was on the verge of forgiving Ron. I just can't stay mad at him these days, I miss him too much when we argue and we don't speak.

There. I said it. I like Ron Weasley too much to argue with him. It hurt so much in the fourth year when he turned on me over Viktor, and I'm afraid that poor Viktor spent a lot of time listening to me complain about Ron when he could have been reading up on ways to tackle the Triwizard tournament.

Things were rather hectic last year. Harry seemed to be on the verge of a breakdown most of the time, at least when he wasn't worrying about Cho Chang, and then when Ron and I did get some time alone it just never seemed the right time to say anything. Part of me was just too scared.

Silly, isn't it? I'll happily face down a troll or a giant or a basilisk, but put Ron in front of me, prime me to tell him how I feel, and you can forget it. It's just so terrifying. Still, I was put in Gryffindor for a reason. I'm not just a smart girl, I'm supposed to be brave as well. So I'd resolved over the summer to tell him this year, and Harry and Ginny getting together seemed like a good place to start.

I decided as we were walking along the corridor that I'd tell him when we got back to the common room. It just hit me that it was the perfect time. I'd just had to put up with Ron at his most unconsciously annoying, and I'd forgiven him within minutes. What more of a sign did I need?

How about Snape, Filch, Harry and Ginny all converging on us to spoil the mood? How about a mad dash into the Room of Requirement to escape them all? How about the Room turning into an exact replica of the Weasley's house? This was what Fred and George would call a passion killer. How was I supposed to think about romance with Snape and Filch about to burst in on us and, even worse, a horrible feeling that Mrs Weasley would bustle in from the garden at any moment?

Ron certainly took my mind off all that. Unfortunately, he did it by picking a fight. Typical. Pain in the you-know-what, am I? Fine.

'At least I'm in good company, then,' I said.

'What's that supposed to mean?'

'Oh, come on Ron. Don't tell me you haven't noticed. Harry and Ginny have been trying to get away from you all week!'

'Why didn't they just say something then?'

'Because they didn't want to hurt your feelings, that's why! Of course, I should have just told them to go ahead, after all, you have no feelings to hurt!'

'That's nice, coming from Miss _Hogwarts: A History_ is my best friend!'

'It's a better friend than you'll ever be! It doesn't laugh at me behind my back, it doesn't make fun of my interests and it doesn't care who I'm friends with!'

'You think I care who you're friends with? For all I care you can go and hang out with Snape and Malfoy.'

'Maybe I will, at least then I'd be with people who wouldn't need my help with every piece of work they've ever been given!'

'Yeah, and they'd be just as stuck up as you. I'd say it's a perfect match!'

'Fine. If Snape is out there, I can tell him where to find you, shall I?'

'That'd be wonderful, Hermione. Anyone'd be better than having to put up with you all day.'

I was so angry I stormed over to the door and grabbed the handle. I didn't care if anyone was outside or not. Anything to get away from Ron. Forget what I said earlier. I don't like him, I _hate_ him! He's the most annoying person ever, and I wouldn't ever forgive him for this.

The handle rattled, but the door stayed shut. I put all my weight to it, but it wouldn't move. Were we locked in until Snape and Filch left? I suppose that wasn't such a bad thing, and we _had_ run in there to get away from them. Still, I couldn't help but think that it was a singularly bad time to be locked in a room with Ron Weasley. I decided to try the other door, the one that led outside. That was locked, too. I tried Alohomora on both doors, but nothing worked.

'We're locked in, aren't we?' Ron asked. He had taken a seat at the kitchen table, and looked for all of the world as though he hadn't just had a huge argument with me. 

'Yes,' I said grudgingly.

'Well, I suppose it's to be expected. 'We're in the Room of Requirement. We needed to get away from Filch and Snape, so it turned into someplace safe, and it won't let us out until it's safe to go.'

I dropped into the seat opposite him. 'Yes, I _had_ worked that out, but thank you.'

'Just doing what you always do,' he said. 'I was wondering why you always state the obvious, and I still don't know.'

I didn't want to start the argument again, but he was asking for it.

'I always-'

'Don't, please. I'm sorry,' he said.

It's just so disarming, the way he does that. But I wasn't going to let him off as easily as that.

'What are you sorry for?'

'For everything,' he replied. He was staring at the table as he spoke. 'For being an idiot about the S.P.E.W. meeting, for picking fights with you, for patronising you, for acting like you don't have feelings, for saying that you'd get on better with Snape and Malfoy than me. Although I don't suppose I'd blame you if you did. I'm not always the nicest bloke in the world.'

Do you see what I meant earlier? I used to be able to stay mad at Ron. I can't, not anymore. He's so much better these days about realising when he's hurt people's feelings, and he apologises straight away. I'm hoping that soon he'll skip the bit where he gets on people's nerves, and then he won't have to apologise.

'You just have to learn to think before you speak, Ron,' I said. He grinned.

'You could try _not_ to think before you speak occasionally. Give someone else a chance to work stuff out. You wouldn't seem anywhere near as much of a know-it-all then.'

I couldn't help it. I grinned. It was such a Ron thing to say. Turn an apology into a joke, but I didn't care. Fond as I am of Harry, it's Ron who keeps me going, and Ron I'd miss the most if things went wrong. Impulsively, I reached out and took his hand.

'Ron, there's something I want to say.'

He squeezed my hand gently as he looked me in the eye.

'Yeah, me too,' he said. 'You first, then.'

I took a deep breath, and decided to take the plunge.

'Ron, you've been my best friend for what seems like forever. I don't know what I'd do without you, and when we argue, I feel like a part of me just dies. I can't stand not having you be around me, and I want to be with you all the time. I don't want us just to be friends anymore, Ron. I want us to be more than that.'

For a long moment, he sat there frozen, and then he looked away. I thought I'd spoilt everything, that I'd misread things between us, that what he wanted to say was that he'd fallen for Lavender or something. Then he looked back up at me and he was smiling, and I knew everything was going to be okay.

'It's been four years now,' he said. 'I knew I liked you for so long. I was confused at first, and then I got angry when you didn't seem to feel anything, and then there was the whole mess last year and it was great the way you were there for everyone. You're one of a kind, Hermione Granger. So, you've said your piece, I've pretty much said mine. One last thing, though. Will you go out with me?'

I nodded mutely, unwilling to speak because I knew that there'd be nothing but a croak coming out.

'Great,' he said, beaming in a very silly manner. I think I probably looked much the same. 'Now, shall we have another go at getting this door open?'

He turned the handle, and it swung open. He grinned.

'Why the big smile?' I asked, well aware that I had one of my own stuck on my face.

'I got something right that you didn't,' he said.

'And what was that?'

'The Room of Requirement didn't give us someplace to hide from Snape and Filch, I knew that wasn't right.'

'What do you mean?'

'When we came in here, and I had my head against the door, I heard Snape and Filch walking away. Besides, there was something else on my mind as we walked past here the first time. It certainly wasn't Snape or Filch.'

'What was it then?' I asked, half hoping.

'This,' he said, letting the door wing shut as he stepped closer to me.

And people wonder why I can't stay mad at Ron Weasley. . .

*

We made it back to the common room in one piece, even if I was still trembling. Ron had this huge grin on his face that I hoped wouldn't give us away if we bumped into someone.

We clambered through the portrait hole, hand in hand, and I nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw someone standing there. Thankfully it was only Harry and Ginny, and they looked quite busy enough to take no notice of us. Ron and I shared a smile as we parted ways. Sometimes people just need a little time alone, I guess.

Of course, I looked back at Ron as I was about to go up the stairs to my room. He was standing at the foot of the stairs up to the boy's dormitory. He was pulling a face at me. Honestly, he really is the most annoying person in the world. I spun on my heel and stalked up the staircase towards my room.

But I couldn't wait to see him again.

The End


End file.
